In order to drive innovation and growth in a nation is it important to have innovative companies. Many of those innovative companies are smaller companies, which are in need of capital injections for expansion of its operations or to be able to produce a commercial product. In many cases the banks will not lend because they believe there is too great a risk that they will not get their money back. It is in this situation venture capital becomes interesting. Venture capitalists? see the potential the product and/or entrepreneur possesses and are therefore more willing to take the risk in investing in these companies.

The use of vision applications are growing and the demand for integration and connectivity with other industrial automation control devices is increasing. Some businesses that are using vision technology follow US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) regulation concerning audit trail. This thesis investigates the possibility to use vision technology for counting objects, achieving connectivity and to follow FDAs audit trail regulation. A market survey has been used to select suitable hardware and software to be used in the design of an application that is able to count objects and that uses standard industrial network connection i.e. OPC data access and Microsoft?s .NET components over Ethernet.

Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka vad kommunikationsbrister kan bero på och hur en organisation kan gå tillväga för att lösa problem som uppstår på grund av dem. Med detta som grund har studien utformat rekommendationer för hur förvärvsorganisationer kan arbeta med den interna kommunikationen och på så sätt överkomma och förebygga brister i kommunikationen.Metod: En fallstudie utifrån en deduktiv forskningsprocess användes genom att ställa upp påståenden utifrån teorin som prövades på empirin. Datainsamlingen skedde genom kvalitativa intervjuer och en kvantitativ enkät.Slutsats: Brister som uppstår i kommunikationen har en verkan på hela organisationens finansiella och prestationsmässiga resultat. Genom att lägga beslag på kommunikationen kan en förvärvsorganisation bli mer framgångsrik..

This study investigates a method for identifying human capital and its effect on company valuation. We devise a measure for the efficiency of human capital based on the personnel cost. We include all companies listed in the financial and industry sector on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm in an attempt to examine human capital and its effect on firm valuation. Our results indicate that a higher efficiency of human capital has a positive effect on return on assets. However, we find that our measure can be interpreted in two ways; either as a firm?s level of human capital efficiency or its dependency on human capital, to achieve its net sales and revenue.

Mycket har förändrats de senaste åren inom revisionsbranschen. Revisionsplikten har avskaffats för små- och medelstora företag, vilket lett till stora omställningar. Revisorerna är nu inte obligatoriska för dessa företag, vilket öppnar upp marknaden för redovisningskonsulter. Redovisningskonsulternas roll har blivit allt mer omfattande. Vissa källor menar även att revisorns och redovisningskonsultens roller kommer närma sig varandra mer och mer i framtiden.

Background: Theoretical, it?s been questioned why dividends exists in companies based upon the fact that there is a separation between ownership and control. According to the agency theoretical perception, dividends is used as a manner to unify the interest of this separation, which in turn lower the agency cost, and increase the efficiency of companies.Purpose: The aim of this master thesis is to scrutinize and analyse the association between Swedish firms? owner structure and owner types and their inclination to dividend.Method: We attack the problem with a hypothetical-deductive research method by using the existence of a universal theory, the agency theory. From our theoretical framework we propose a set of hypotheses.

Mycket har förändrats de senaste åren inom revisionsbranschen. Revisionsplikten har avskaffats för små- och medelstora företag, vilket lett till stora omställningar. Revisorerna är nu inte obligatoriska för dessa företag, vilket öppnar upp marknaden för redovisningskonsulter. Redovisningskonsulternas roll har blivit allt mer omfattande. Vissa källor menar även att revisorns och redovisningskonsultens roller kommer närma sig varandra mer och mer i framtiden.

New laws and recommendations within corporate governance during the last years have affected the way board of directors work. The board is said to have and fulfill three roles: a control role, a service role and a strategy role. These roles could be understood by three theoretical theories: the agency theory, the resource dependence theory and the stewardship theory. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether, and if so how, the board work differs between two small firms based on these roles, given that one of the firms is a publicly listed firm and the other is a privately owned firm. Using a qualitative case study as research method we find that the board work differs between the two companies when it comes to these roles.

Since January 1st 2008, companies have the opportunity to become certified by the new common customs system Authorized Economic Operator (AEO). This opportunity is presented so that authorities together with operators are trusted to ensure that it is the correct cargo that gets transported. Attends Healthcare AB (Attends) has decided to implement this certification. To qualify there are a number of criteria that needs to be met. The aim of this thesis is to verify if Attends can meet the required criteria.

During the last years, the importance of sourcing in firms has increased. Globalization, fierce competition and an increased level of outsourcing are common explanations to why firms have highlighted the potential to realize savings and the value creation that the Purchasing department can generate. One trend that follows in parallel with globalization is an increased pressure from society on firms to take responsibility for the impact that its products and services have on the environment. This responsibility creates even more attention as outsourcing involves trade with suppliers in low wage countries, where the level of environmental and social responsibility is not always satisfying. The Purchasing department, the firm?s interface with suppliers should therefore, together with the firm?s Environmental department, play a key role in the firm?s contribution towards sustainable development.

The arm?s length principle has existed in Swedish law since 1928 but has previously been given little attention. In 2007, documentation requirements were introduced, and the government began to do tax audits regarding transfer pricing. This thesis examines how the documentation requirements and tax audits affect the application of the arm's length principle. The research consists of nine interviews with a total of ten people at the tax authority (Skatteverket) and audit- and consulting agencies. The results of the interviews are analyzed using the agency theory. Many companies are risk averse and prefer having correct transfer pricing instead of taking on challenging strategies that can be risky in case of an investigation by Skatteverket.

This thesis focuses on RM and customer relationships and tries to answer two research questions: how firms can retain customers and how to generate profitable customer relationships by using relationship marketing. We conducted case studies on JOB media, a company in Luleå, and Polardörren, a company in Öjebyn, Piteå. Our research has revealed that in many ways our case study companies conform in major ways to the theory in this particular area. However there are differences between how these two firms go about in regard to customer retention and establishing profitable customer relationship. We have discovered that JOB media, which is a service company is more inclined to maintaining close and long-term relationships with its customers.

Companies acquiring ERP systems are often dissatisfied with the project and therefore consultancy firms wish to make use of project models in order to achieve success in implementations. Since research on ERP implementations in service companies is limited, there is a need for mapping of critical activities in implementation projects in this line of business. Under these premises, the purpose of our master thesis is to develop a model for implementation of ERP systems, specified in activities, which can be used by mid-sized consultancy firms with mid-sized qualified service companies as customers.A literature study including project models, modern models and methodologies for ERP implementation, commonly existent activities, success factors and system development methods was carried out. Starting out with this, a theoretical model for ERP implementation was generated. In excess of this, a case study was conducted, where the implementation of the ERP system Microsoft Dynamics AX at the service company Eurostep, performed by the consultancy firm Medius, was studied.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the process of technology sourcing within firms active in the CRT-market. The primary focus of the study is the motives, risks and problems associated with technology sourcing, to construct key learnings for organisations consider undertaking this way to access research and development or those organisations that are already operating in the CRTmarket. Method: As method has abduction been used. The empiric material of the thesis is based on qualitative research in form of interviews in a conversational manner. For correct interpretation and understanding a hermeneutics approach has been used.

 BakgrundI november 2010 avskaffades revisionsplikten för små aktiebolag i Sverige. Anledningen till lagändringen var att regeringen ville sänka kostnaderna för små bolag, samt att regeringen ville att Sveriges lagstiftning skulle harmoniseras med EU:s lagstiftning. Regeringen menade att bolagen efter revisionspliktens avskaffande skulle använda den insparade kostnaden till att köpa andra tjänster från revisionsbyråerna.SyfteSyftet är att beskriva hur den avskaffade revisionsplikten för små företag har förändrat kundunderlaget och tjänsteutvecklingen för några utvalda revisionsbyråer. Vidare är syftet att beskriva vilken betydelse revisionsbyråerna anser att revisionen har för de små företagen.MetodI uppsatsen har en kvalitativ metod använts. Intervjuer med 6 olika revisionsbyråer i Sundsvall har genomförts.